Pneumatic transfer systems may be used to carry out transactions. Such systems may be used to conduct transactions between a service provider and remotely located customers. Such systems have been used in drive-through banking applications as well as in other transaction environments. Such systems are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,299,891 and 6,146,057, which are owned by the assignee of the present invention and the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. Other pneumatic tube systems are shown in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/245,641, filed Oct. 7, 2005, as well as in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/719,932, filed Sep. 16, 2005, the disclosures of each of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Transaction drawers, which are also referred to herein as deal drawers, may be used to carry out transactions. Deal drawers may be used by a service provider such as a bank teller within a facility to transfer items between the teller and a customer outside the facility. This may be, for example, a person in a vehicle located in a drive-through lane adjacent to the teller. Bank tellers and other service providers may exchange items with customers through the use of deal drawers to carry out transactions. Exemplary deal drawers are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,789,860; U.S. Pat. No. 7,182,027; as well as U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/529,463, filed Sep. 27, 2006; the disclosures of each of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Transaction systems which include pneumatic tube conveyor systems, deal drawers and/or other types of transaction devices that can exchange items between a service provider and a customer facilitate the carrying out of transactions. However, there still exists a need for improvements, including improvements that enable the tracking of transaction activity that occurs in connection with such systems. In addition, there exists a need for improvements that enable the tracking of transaction activity, including vehicle movement and positioning, that occurs in connection with such systems by utilizing existing telephone systems and associated wiring. Finally, there exists a need for improvements that enable the utilization of tracking data in evaluating and improving the operation of the facility.